Thursday, June 28, 2007

Help Spread the Word

Today, I want to talk about something a bit different than my usual knitting and yarn content. I want to talk to you about Etsy and to ask for your help with something. As many of you probably already know, Etsy is a selling venue for items that are handcrafted. Most of you know Etsy for the hand dyed and handspun yarn, but Etsy is full of amazing shops that sell everything from art to pottery to purses to clothing to jewelry to paper goods to . . . well, you get the idea! The list could go on and on. If a mind can conceive it and a person can create it, you’ll likely find it somewhere on Etsy.

Etsy’s tagline is “Your place to buy & sell all things handmade” but the vision behind Etsy goes beyond that. When Etsy drafted their “Do’s and Don’ts” for buying and selling on Etsy, the original draft included a preamble that talked about the vision of creating a marketplace where there is a connection between buyer and seller. It referenced days past when the items people purchased were often purchased directly from the hands that made them. This vision appeals to me enormously. Although there is certainly a vital place in our world today for mass-produced goods, the idea of purchasing some of our goods directly from the maker is wonderful.

I’ve been selling on Etsy now for over a year and I can personally attest to the satisfaction and joy that this relationship between buyer and seller has brought to me. My customers are more than customers to me. They are very real people, infinitely human, full of kindness and spirit, sharing a common passion for yarn and fiber arts. The day to day interaction we have is a wonderful and unexpected gift that has added something meaningful to my life. I am extraordinarily grateful to the mad geniuses behind Etsy for bringing the venue to life.

Etsy is still a very new venture, but it is thriving and growing and I want to see that continue. This got me to thinking about what more I can do to help with that, not for my shop specifically but for Etsy as a whole. I want to do my part to give back to the Etsy creators, owners and staff, as well as to the amazing community of artisans with shops on Etsy. That’s where this post comes in. And that’s where you come in.

Today, I would like to ask that any of you who have blogs consider posting a little something about Etsy. This is not a request that you talk about my shop, but simply that you join me in shouting to the online world that Etsy exists and is all about a good thing. It’s a venue that is providing an amazing opportunity for artisans to reach the world and share their work. It’s a venue that allows buyers a connection and interaction with the talented people making the goods sold there. It’s a place of innovation and enlightenment, forward thinking, care and concern about the environment, and appreciation of the value of human ingenuity and the creative process.

If you have a blog, this post is my request to you that you take a moment and tell your readers about Etsy and perhaps also ask that your readers join in and spread the word as well. Feel free to use any of what I’ve posted here or a link to this post if you find it worth repeating. If some of you choose to do this and some of your blog readers take up the cry as well, a chain can begin and we can do a great deal to spread the word in a short space of time.

Perhaps this is not something you’re interested in doing. I entirely understand that! But if you have found that the Etsy venue and the connections you’ve made with some of us who sell there have brought some small but positive addition to your life, I ask that you consider helping to spread the word. I know that many of you regularly mention Etsy sellers in your blogs, but this is a bit different. This is a more generalized shout to the world that Etsy is a place worth visiting and it is a specific request that others help spread the word. If you don’t have a blog, but would like to help spread the word, perhaps you could make a point of telling a few folks about Etsy who may not already know.

If you choose to take me up on this request and post something on your blog, please do drop a comment here. I’d love to pop over and see your posts and learn more about how all of you view Etsy.

My apologies for the off-knitting-topic post! I hope you don’t take this post as just an “advertisement”! I am posting this not to spread the word about my shop, but to do my small part in contributing to spreading the word about Etsy. It’s just my small way of giving back to the Etsy community that has brought so much to me.

I don't know if I have time to add a message today about Etsy, but when I celebrated the 1 year mark I did write a glowing account of what Etsy has meant to me. I really believe in Etsy and the vision behind it!

I don't have a blog but I am a seller on Etsy and I think what you have written is wonderful. Etsy is more than just the shops we have there. It is a community of people, both the sellers and the wonderful buyers who become our friends.

You have done a great job describing Etsy as a community and I will follow your lead on other message boards I belong to. Thanks for taking that first step.

I'm also a member of the Etsy community (mousiemasala.etsy.com)and I agree with your post completely. I find myself buying from other members rather than going out to shop in a store and I will definitely be purchasing my holiday and birthday gifts within Etsy.

I'm planning on linking to this post via my blog as well within the next few days.

I love Etsy as both an etsy shopkeeper/indie crafter, and someone who loves to support the indie crafting community. My latest blog contest asked people to send me links to etsy shops they liked (as well as other indie online shops). I then posted them all in one monster post on my blog just this past month. I'm impressed an amazed by the lovely work by the crafters on etsy, and am proud to be a humble member as well.

Etsy is wonderful! I buy and sell there, and am so touched everytime I receive an order for handmade supplies with a little note from the maker, or when someone buys from me and tells me how the plan to use my patterns.

Thank you for starting this great initiative. I will definitely be following your lead and blogging about Etsy.

I've just added it to my blog to do list... I think there are a lot of peolpe here in the UK who don't know what Etsy is and spreading the word would definately benefit us. I'm also going to add your blog to my blog roll, if that's ok.

I have links in my blog to some Etsy shops but I will gladly talk about Etsy itself also,maybe I can do that tonight since not much else is happening! I do believe most of my readers are from Etsy, but there is always that chance that some one will stumble onto it.

Thank you for doing such a wonderful job capturing the essence of Etsy and promoting the entire community. I have added your post to our blog and given you all the credit with a link to your site. Thank you so much it has been a pleasure

Hey Deb,I just posted about Etsy. You can read it on my blog at http://rather-be.blogspot.com. Thanks for encouraging us to do this--I love Etsy and want it to get as much positive feedback as possible!

You have written such a wonderful tribute to ETSY - its sellers, buyers, creators, and staff! I will post tomorrow on my blog, but I may quote you and giv e you the credit because I coulnd't say it better - ever!